Every year, film festivals act as a kind of fortune teller for cinephiles – telling them what movies they need to watch out for in the coming awards season months. Sundance Film Festival is the earliest indicator of what movies to look forward to, and which ones not to, some of which might not even be released until almost a year later. There are of course, some of the big festivals as well later in the year, including Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival. However, the Cannes International Film Festival takes place in France every year around the beginning of Summer season and usually ends up featuring the premieres some of the most interesting films of their respective years.

One of the biggest Cannes films from this year was none other than the new Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara-led, Carol. The film follows a department store clerk (Mara), who falls in love with an older, married woman (Blanchett) in 1950s New York City. The movie is based off of “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith, and is said to have been one of the most interesting and elegant films to hit the festival circuit this year.

Today, the first trailer for Carol has debuted online and gives movie buffs their first full look at the highly-anticipated romance drama. Check out the trailer below:

While the trailer doesn’t give much in terms of dialogue or actual story, the tone, drama, and style were palpable throughout. Mara and Blanchett have proven themselves to be two of the best actresses working in the industry today, and they both look incredible in the film. The little things features throughout too, like Blanchett’s hand sliding across Mara’s shoulder of the bright red, 1950s lips all helped to give a very seductive, and secretive vibe that hooked me from the first shot.

I’m not too familiar with any of Todd Hayne’s past work, but his direction looks really… unique. A lot of the shots almost looked like photographs, or those advertisements that were made in the 1950s and 60s promoting the women in their red dresses, always with a cigarette in between their fingers and a smile on their face. Whether or not the style and story will mesh well together could be prove to be a problem, and it seems like the film divided some at Cannes for that very reason, so it’ll be interesting to see how this ends up hitting with a larger audience later this year.

Carol is set to hit theaters on November 20th.

Make sure to keep checking back for more updates — right here on GeekNation.